Influence Of Mobile Banking On International Business Operations By Letshego Holding

Abstract

Banking today is undergoing a radical transformation. It has been argued that symptoms are obvious; whereby in a day, new products are launched, new players emerge and new channels are created. Mobile technology has played part in creating these new products and services. It has acted as a major force to bring about this transformation that has caused existing legal, geographical and trade barriers to break. Previous studies have showed the importance of mobile network technologies in the banking services. A good number of these studies were conducted at the domestic market level financial institutions and may therefore not reflect the effect on the growth and achievement of international businesses in an evolving country like in Kenya. The studies concentrated on traditional way of banking as opposed to the specific focus on other types of banks in Kenya especially on microfinance institutions. However, the foregoing studies do not address the issue of mobile banking in relation to facilitation of international business operations. The study adopted a case study research design. Data was collected from the interview guide with respondents being from the managerial positions. The study found that mobile banking by Letshego has influenced operations, efficiency of the company and on customer levels. This was revealed in business of operations of both the company and the employees particularly, on improved the efficiency of loans disbursements. Respondents’ highlighted one of the major challenges in mobile banking is the non-payment from customers. However, it was established that the company has in place strategic measures to prevent loan defaulting. The researcher recommended that a similar study be done although investigating the cause and effect of each mobile banking activity, risk or benefit. This will call for an experimental or explanatory research design utilizing fundamental concepts of statistics.